


Retail Diplomacy

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [106]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 05:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8784391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Hux gets defensive of Kylo.





	

Kylo Ren stands at Hux’s side. His hands at his hips, his mask front and centre. He’s under no illusion as to why the Leader assigned him here: equal parts as a protective duty to keep Hux’s ass safe, and to intimidate the so-called diplomats they’re here to meet with.

He’s the glorified muscle. Both literally, and figuratively, through the Force. 

But it’s okay. He’s been that, before. His strength and abilities have always made him a useful tool, and it’s a role he knows all too well. Fetch this. Break this. Hold this. Kill this.

It’s just the same, day in, day out. 

He doesn’t even blink when the first insults come. In fact, he’s barely even paying them that much attention. He’s here to defend _Hux_ , and not himself. He’s always being criticised (usually by Hux) for being overly-emotional to events, and unless the insults get too–

“ _What did you just say_?”  


Kylo blinks. Hux’s voice dropped to _diaphragm-perforating_ depths, and his gloved hands hit the table between the delegates. 

“Uh… I just…”  


“You will apologise to Lord Ren. **Immediately**.”  


Is this some kind of negotiating tactic? Refusing to bend, under pressure? It has to be, because there’s no way Hux didn’t think that unpleasant thing about Kylo five times before breakfast today.

But the righteous indignation coming off of him like pulsar waves _feels_ real. It could be an act of ‘I need to convince them so temporarily I will include Ren in the whole entity of the Order in my mind so any slight to him is a slight to me’, so Kylo decides to let it slide for–

“I’m… I’m… sorry?”  


“ _Apologies are not questions. You will make a full, written apology. You will address your hideous prejudice, and you will consider the very grave consequences of not signing this treaty with the Order. Do I make myself clear?”_  


Nod, nod, nod. 

Hux looks up to Kylo. 

Kylo looks down. 

Still that wonderful gambler’s undreadable face. Except it isn’t unreadable, it’s just that Kylo can’t get to the truth below the tiny burst blood-vessels in his eyes, or the minute pearl of spit at the corner of his mouth. The _rage_ looks pure and clean enough, but… he…?

A cock of the head, and Hux summons Kylo to follow him. Which he does, stunned to silence for a change. He should be hideously offended that Hux has undermined his ability to defend himself (and really, it had been a nothing-insult, considering what he’d had to deal with over the years). But instead, he felt…

The troopers in the contingent follow even further behind, and they get into the elevator. Hux is _still_ vibrating like a pot of boiling water, and Kylo is getting concerned. 

“Hux?”  


“How do you _stand_ it?”  


“…that?”  


Their eyes meet. Or. Eyes and helmet. Kylo wishes he could remove it, but the edict says he can’t. So he doesn’t. And he makes what passes for eye-contact, instead.

“Yes, _that_.”  


“That was nothing, Hux. I hear it all day, even if their lips never move. Even from you.”  


Possibly slightly under-handed, but it’s true. He’s heard some very imaginative insults coming from the General, over the years. More… exasperated of late, but still. Uncomfortable.

“How do you _stand_ it?” Hux repeats. “Doesn’t it make your–”  


“Blood boil, sometimes, so that destroying something non-vital to blow off the steam is the only way to still function?”  


That causes Hux to stop his oncoming tirade, and a flicker of guilt crosses the General’s face. Kylo doesn’t often need to resort to such extremes, but it’s one way to prevent mass slaughter. Focus on non-essential sections of the craft, or get to a dojo to train. 

Eventually, unapologetic for that, he says: “I just couldn’t listen to them talk about you like that.”  


“…well, I could.” Kylo plays with the seams of his tunic. “…but… thank you?”  


To his surprise, a finger and thumb catch the faceplate of his mask. His head is pulled respectfully (and slowly) lower, and then there’s the soft sound of lips on the black muzzle. 

Kylo doesn’t know what to do. At all.

“You’re an idiot, you know? But you don’t deserve to be… insulted like that. Not by anyone who isn’t me,” Hux clarifies. “You might be an idiot, but you’re my idiot.”  


Kylo. _Flushes_. So, so hot under the mask, and he wants to tug at his collar. He tries to pull his mask away from the hand, but he can’t shake the pinch keeping his face in position. More panic, and he reaches for Hux’s wrist. “I’m–”

“It’s alright,” Hux says, letting go at his own pace. “I’m not going to let people insult you any more.”  


“Why? And if you say it’s your job, so help me, Maker, I’ll–”

“Because you don’t deserve those things, Ren,” is the even more startling response. “You have plenty of flaws, but you’re… surprisingly more tolerable than most. And I’ve had enough of listening to people belittle you.”  


Kylo doesn’t know what to say, so he ducks away, rubbing his hands up into his sleeves. He’s sure he can feel the battle mark of Hux’s lips on his helmet, and… it’s all so strange. He flushes all the way to his toes in shock. 

Hux has, at least, calmed by the time they get to their floor. There’s a ping to the comm unit, and Hux smirks. “They’re ready for us, but I think we make them wait a little, first, don’t you?”

“At least an hour.”  


“How about three? There’s a great shopping strip, so I’m told.”  


Shopping. Hux wants to go shopping.

Kylo… figures why the hell not. If nothing else, he can make himself useful carrying the bags. It’s a fair trade, to have someone watch his back, after all.


End file.
